Tetramethyltellurium, Te(CH₃)₄, was prepared in 1989 (R.W. Gedrige, D.C. Harris, K.R. Higa, and R.A. Nissan, Organometallics, 1989, 8, 2817), and its synthesis was soon followed by the preparation of the hexamethyl compound (L. Ahmed and J.A. Morrison, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1990, 112, 7411). Explain why these compounds are so unusual, give equations for their syntheses, and speculate on why these synthetic procedures are successful. In relation to the last point, speculate on why reaction of TeF₄ with methyllithium does not yield tetramethyltellurium.